more canadians able to buy homes in december
News Posted On: 26 January 2012
According to data released by the Canadians Real Estate Association, more Canadians were able to purchase new homes in December 2011, with homeownership rates up by 1.8%. Meanwhile sales for 2011 reached a total of 456,749 which is an increase of 2.2%.
New listings increased by 3%, but property prices rose by just 0.9% year-on-year.
Most of Canada's housing market saw growth, and national sales in December grew by 4.6% compared to December 2010.
The president of CREA Gary Morse is predicting the housing market will continue to benefit from low interest rates and steady house price growth this year. He points to the momentum in sales activity providing clear evidence homebuyers are still active in the housing market.
Canada's housing market achieved a national balance ratio of 54.8% in December and inventory levels currently stand at 5.8 months, which is a slight decrease on the 5.9 months seen in November. What’s more, the number of houses on the market is shrinking, while median house prices improved only slightly, so homeownership is expected to remain affordable.
It still remains to be seen if Vancouver will remain a hotspot. The Chinese New Year is expected to bring an influx of businessman from mainland China, and although many will spend time with family, others will be anxious to peruse the property market.
According to estate agent this has been going on for over 25 years, but they expect this year to be especially busy. One reason for this is that the year of the Dragon is seen as being particularly auspicious for buying property, while another is the fact that the property market in China is slowing down.
Vancouver recently overtook Sydney as being the least affordable housing market after Hong Kong with property prices at 10.6 times the average household income.
View Canada property for sale
Written by Les Calvert
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